Triads Learning Pathway
Learn the building blocks of great playing.
Late beginners
You should be comfortable playing open chords, basic bar chords, and have a general understanding of the major scale before getting started.
3 months
Eli Koskoff will guide you through six grades of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Fretboard fluency
Learn to navigate the fretboard with triads so you can build melodic rhythm parts and more connected solos.
Take the next step
Keep your momentum going with advanced classes and guided pathways to push your playing further.
What you'll learn
In this class, Eli will show you how to unlock the fretboard with triads and apply them to both rhythm playing and soloing.
- Find triads anywhere on the guitar
- Connect chords with smooth voice leading
- Target chord tones in your solos
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided Learning Pathway
In this 3-month Learning Pathway, Eli Koskoff will show you how to navigate the fretboard with triads. You'll learn to find them in every position, connect them through the lens of the CAGED system, and apply them to expressive rhythm playing and melodic solos.
Intro to Triads
To kick off the Learning Pathway, you’ll learn what triads are and how they live inside the chord shapes you already know.
By finding roots and inversions inside familiar shapes, you’ll start seeing basic chords as flexible tools for creating smoother rhythm parts.
Triads Within CAGED
In this grade, you’ll connect your triads to the CAGED system so the fretboard starts to feel more like a connected map.
Eli will show you how to find triads inside every CAGED shape, giving you the freedom to fluidly move across the neck.
Major Horizontal Triads
Next, you’ll break out of vertical chord shapes and start mapping triads horizontally across each stringset.
This grade will help you create flowing chord movement and melodic rhythm parts that work in genres like pop, indie, rock, and neo soul.
Grade 4. Minor Horizontal Triads
After that, you’ll apply the same horizontal approach to minor triads.
You’ll learn how one small note change can unlock a whole new set of minor sounds, then use chromatic movement to create smooth neo-soul-inspired guitar arrangements.
Grade 5. Making Music
This grade is all about turning your triad knowledge into musical guitar parts.
You’ll learn how to build rhythm parts over real progressions and use chord tones to make your solos sound connected to the changes.
Grade 6. Modifying Triads
In the final grade, you’ll expand beyond basic major and minor shapes with spread, suspended, diminished, and augmented triads.
By the end of the class, you’ll have a complete triad toolkit for creating rhythm parts and outlining chords with more control in your solos.
Grade 1. Intro to Triads
In this first grade, you’ll learn how triads are built and how to find them inside familiar chord shapes. You’ll use roots and inversions to start turning basic chords into more melodic guitar parts.
Day 1. What is a triad?
You’ll start by learning how the root, 3rd, and 5th combine to make the secret weapon for professional guitarists. These simple shapes will give you a more focused way to create rhythm parts and outline chords.
Day 2. Triads within the C chord
Now, you’ll find triads inside an open C shape and learn how each version creates a different sound. This will help you hear familiar chords as smaller, more flexible shapes.
Day 3. Triads within the G chord
Eli will help you locate the roots and triads inside an open G chord. By breaking the shape apart, you’ll start seeing how many smaller shapes can come from one chord you already know.
Day 4. Understanding inversions
You’ll learn how rearranging the notes of a triad creates new sounds across the neck. Inversions will help you move between chords more smoothly and create melodies on top of your harmony.
Day 5. Combining triads
Now, you’ll connect C and G triads with smooth voice leading. This technique helps your chord changes feel more connected by avoiding jumping between bulky chord shapes.
Day 6. Triads in a riff
In this lesson, you’ll apply your triad knowledge to a Rolling Stones-inspired riff. This lesson shows how triads can create memorable rhythm-guitar parts with melody built into the top note.
Day 7. Root-note identification workout
Sweatband on because Eli will guide you through a root-note workout that connects roots to triad inversions. This will strengthen your fretboard awareness before you move into CAGED.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 1 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of professional L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 2.
Grade 2. Triads Within CAGED
Now that you understand the basics of triads, it’s time to connect them to the CAGED system. You’ll learn how each CAGED shape contains triads that can help you navigate the fretboard with more confidence. Even if you aren’t very familiar with the CAGED system, this grade will help you visualize how your triads connect to one another to fill out the entire fretboard.
Day 1. The CAGED system
You’ll kick off Grade 2 with an overview of the five CAGED shapes to see how they connect across the fretboard. This will give you a visual system for finding triads in any key.
Day 2. C shape triads
Eli will help you find triads inside the C shape using a D chord you’re probably already familiar with. You’ll identify the root, 3rd, and 5th within each shape and learn how those intervals relate to one another so you can quickly locate triads in different positions.
Day 3. A shape triads
Now, you’ll explore the A shape and the triads inside it. This position shows up in countless guitar parts and gives you easy access to melodic chord movement.
Day 4. G shape triads
In this lesson, you’ll break down the G shape and connect it to nearby CAGED positions. This will help you see how different chord shapes overlap.
Day 5. E shape triads
You’ll explore one of the most familiar bar-chords on guitar: the E shape. By breaking it into triads, you’ll turn a common shape into a more flexible rhythm and lead tool.
Day 6. D shape triads
You’ll learn how to visualize triads inside the D shape. This position can feel tricky at first, but triads make it much easier to understand.
Day 7. CAGED workout
Make sure you’re warmed up because Eli will call out roots and positions so you can practice finding CAGED shapes across the neck. This workout will help lock the whole system into your hands and ears.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 2 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 3.
Grade 3. Major Horizontal Triads
This grade is all about moving major triads horizontally across the fretboard. Instead of staying locked into one position, you’ll learn how to connect inversions across every stringset and turn them into melodic guitar parts.
Day 1. Stringset 1
You’ll start mapping major triads on the high E, B, and G strings. These upper-string shapes are great for cutting through the mix and not stepping on other musicians’ sonic toes.
Day 2. Stringset 2
Now, you’ll move to the B, G, and D strings, a stringset that works great for neo soul and gospel-inspired sounds. You’ll connect these shapes back to CAGED so they feel easier to remember.
Day 3. Mark Knopfler triads
Eli will show you how to use horizontal triads to create a Dire Straits-inspired guitar part. This lesson helps you combine chord movement with a strong melody on top.
Day 4. Stringset 3
In this lesson, you’ll move down to the G, D, and A strings and add more midrange triad options to your toolkit. These shapes are great for Hendrix-style embellishments and melodic rhythm playing.
Day 5. Stringset 4
Now, you’ll complete your major horizontal triad map on the low D, A, and E strings. These lower shapes give you darker options for when you want more atmosphere in a song.
Day 6. Indie rock triads
You’ll apply your horizontal triads to an original Eli Koskoff riff inspired by his band Fortuno. This lesson shows how triads and embellishments can turn a simple progression into a memorable guitar part.
Day 7. Major triads workout
To cap off the grade, Eli will guide you through a full major triad workout across all stringsets and keys. This will help you build the muscle memory needed to eventually find these shapes effortlessly.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 3 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 4.
Grades 4-6
In these last grades, you’ll complete your horizontal triad map, apply triads to real musical situations, and expand your vocabulary with modified triads to play over more chord types.
Grade 4. Minor Horizontal Triads
In this grade, you’ll take the horizontal triad approach from Grade 3 and apply it to minor sounds. You’ll learn how to find minor triads across every stringset, then use them in neo soul-inspired tunes with chromatic movement.
Day 1. Stringset 1
You’ll recalibrate your upper-string major triads into minor triads by flatting the 3rd. This small change will help you unlock a whole new sound without rebuilding your fretboard map from scratch.
Day 2. Stringset 2
Now, you’ll move your minor triads to the B, G, and D strings. These shapes will help you outline minor chords clearly while keeping your melody on top.
Day 3. Neo-soul chromatic connection
Eli will show you how chromatic movement can connect triads with a smoother and more soulful sound. You’ll also have the option to use dyads (two-note chords) to make the harmony even simpler.
Day 4. Stringset 3
In this lesson, you’ll map minor triads on the G, D, and A strings. This will give you more midrange options for minor rhythm parts and lead lines.
Day 5. Stringset 4
Now, you’ll complete your horizontal minor triad map on the lowest stringset. These shapes are less common, but they can add a darker color when the song calls for it.
Day 6. Neo-soul triad pair lick
This lesson shows how combining triad pairs can help your melodies feel fuller while adding a bit of tasteful tension.
Day 7. Minor triads workout
Finish off the grade with a workout. Eli will guide you through a full minor triad workout in different keys to help you lock in the shapes and move between them more confidently.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 4 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 5.
Grade 5. Making Music
This grade will help you turn your triads into real music. You’ll learn how to build guitar parts over different kinds of progressions and use chord tones to make your solos sound more connected.
Day 1. How to come up with guitar parts
To start off the grade, Eli will share with you a simple process for creating guitar parts with triads. This will help you choose shapes that support the song instead of filling up too much space.
Day 2. I, V, and IV
Eli will show you how to find triads around one of the most common chord relationships in popular music. Once you understand this movement, you’ll be able to transpose it to new keys and stringsets.
Day 3. The harmonized major scale
You’ll harmonize the major scale with triads and explore ways to play the same melody note using different triads. This opens up new arranging options for rhythm parts.
Day 4. Hendrix-isms
Now, you’ll explore Jimi Hendrix-inspired embellishments using triads and nearby scale tones. These moves will help give your rhythm playing some internal melodic movement.
Day 5. Triads as arpeggios
You’ll break triads into single-note arpeggios to target chord tones while soloing. This will help your lead lines follow the harmony instead of sounding like disconnected scale runs.
Day 6. Playing changes
Meet every lead guitarist’s Mount Everest. Eli will show you how to use triads over a John Mayer-inspired progression to target chord tones so your solos sound more intentional.
Day 7. Harmonized major scale workout
On the last day of the grade, you’ll work through a harmonized major scale workout in multiple keys. This will strengthen your ability to see triads and melody notes across the fretboard.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 5 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 6.
Grade 6. Modifying Triads
In the final grade, you’ll expand your triad vocabulary with new sounds and shapes. These modified triads will help you create more color and tension in your rhythm and lead playing.
Day 1. Spread triads
You’ll learn how to create more sonic space by moving one chord tone beyond the octave to form spread triads. These shapes are great for cleaner arrangements and Eric Johnson-inspired arpeggios.
Day 2. Suspended triads
Now, you’ll replace the 3rd with the 2nd or 4th to create suspended sounds. These popular chords add pleasant tension that naturally wants to resolve back to the 3rd.
Day 3. Diminished triads
You’ll explore diminished triads and their unresolved sound. These shapes work especially well as passing chords that connect other chords smoothly.
Day 4. Augmented triads
Eli will introduce augmented triads, which raise the 5th for a dreamy sound. You’ll learn how these symmetrical shapes can add color to your progressions.
Day 5. Minor triad pairs
In this lesson, you’ll return to triad pairs in a minor setting. This lesson will help you create more tension and melodic movement in D Dorian.
Day 6. Improvising with triads
In the last lesson of the class, you’ll pull from your full triad toolkit to improvise over chord changes. By targeting chord tones and connecting them with passing tones, you’ll make your solos sound more like pro-level lead lines.
Day 7. Simon Says workout
Eli will call out stringsets, triad types, and keys while you find the shapes across the neck. This final workout will test your full triad knowledge.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 6 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to new challenges.
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Your Instructor
Eli Koskoff
Eli is a professional guitarist, producer, and educator who’ll help you use triads to create melodic rhythm parts and outline chord changes like a pro.
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